The present invention relates to a new and distinct seedless plant variety of Populus tremuloides, more commonly known as Trembling Aspen or Quaking Aspen, having orange to red fall-season leaf coloration, an upright branching habit, and disease resistance to Venturia leaf and shoot blight.
Trembling Aspen is a deciduous tree with extensive distribution throughout North America. Its adaptation to a variety of soil conditions and elevations contributes to its broad market appeal and utilization where it is a popular landscape feature. Aspen trees encompass a number of similar species that are aesthetically appealing for their fall-season leaf coloration, which typically ranges from yellow to gold. An additional aesthetic feature is the “quaking” sound arising from the wind moving across the flattened petioles. Trembling Aspen are also used in forest reclamation areas, quickly taking root after fires. At which time, they provide habitat while slower growing evergreens repopulate. Trembling Aspen are highly susceptible to Venturia leaf and shoot blight.
The new variety, in contrast, demonstrates disease resistance to Venturia leaf and shoot blight. It also differs from the more prevalent commercially available aspen wherein ‘KMN01’ demonstrates orange to red fall-season leaf coloration and its new spring growth is bronze to red in color. This coloration provides a unique aesthetic value to landscaped areas. Typical of the species, the expected maximum height is 25.0 meters, with a lifespan of fifty to sixty years.
‘KMN01’, discovered and asexually propagated by the inventor, was selected from a cultivated nursery field located in Bonners Ferry, Id. in April 2004. Discovered among a field of unsold Populus tremuloides and likely a result of open pollination, ‘KMN01’ demonstrated a whiter bark, upright form, and leaves that appeared uncharacteristic of the surrounding trees. The specimen was uprooted and replanted in the inventor's residential yard in Bonners Ferry, where it was observed for a number of years. ‘KMN01’ maintained its upright form without any pruning. ‘KMN01’ has a fall-season coloration transitioning from green, to yellow, to orange, and in some years, red.
In April 2011, after observing the consistent presentation of characteristics that were originally selected for, the inventor planted 200 seedlings of Populus tremuloides. Then in August of the same year, the inventor budded all 200 aspen with the buds from the discovered plant ‘KMN01’. By August 2012, one hundred and sixty of the budded aspen were four to eight feet (1.2 to 2.4 meters) tall. Further to this successful propagation, the inventor budded an additional 300 ramjets from the discovered ‘KMN01’. This testing and repeated propagation demonstrated that the distinct characteristics herein are true to type and transmissible by asexual reproduction with uniformity and stability.